Kalen was still fiddling with the lights, trying to make the sky glow red and yet still look soft and inviting, He was so into the task he wasn’t really paying attention to much else around him, especially Myrtle and whatever havoc she was reeking. However when he heard an entirely different scream then the ghost the librarian looked up..

To see chaos break out.

First Junia was down and then Paul fell and what was going on with Sam???

and uhh.. Juniper too?

Kalen was instantly on his feet and he looked around, his green eyes wide. Okay, first things first. “Everyone calm down. ” He said as he moved to kneel next to Paul and then looked over at Junia and Juniper..“Ronan, go get Healer Reed, I’m going to send a Patronus to the Headmistress.” He said as he looked over at Gaston and Rose and then looked back at the two fallen students. “No one touch anything! ” He said as he pointed his wand towards the door and a monarch butterfly burst out of it and flew out the door.

He kept his position near Paul and looked down at him for a moment.

Just when Gaston thought he couldn't be more shocked and appalled by Paul's behavior, he snapped at Miss Cambridge. Now that was uncalled for! He waa getting dangerously close to losing his temper himself. His hand clenched around his baton, and he had to take several deep breaths to calm down. The students needed at least one of the adults to provide an example of calm and kindness, and that obviously wasn't going to be Paul in his current state. Besides, going off on him for going off on Myrtle and Jesse would make him a huge hypocrite! He'd talk to him later when they both were less on edge...

He beamed at Miss Diggory as he overheard her reminding Miss Cambridge of her cue, but his expression changed at Mr. Kowalski's sarcastic comment. It seemed unkindness was spreading! He shook his head; no time to think about it now. He struck up the orchestra as Miss Cambridge said her line again, hoping the music would distract him from his thoughts.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Miss Tyler handing out props. Odd... he thought the students already had all the props they needed, and the girl looked a little... out of it. Then he saw Paul go down. "Oh, my - PAUL!" He was at his side instantly. At first he thought the older man had collapsed from stress, but then he saw Junia and Juni on the floor flailing too.

His heart and mind raced. All this started when they touched the... Oh no! "NO ONE ELSE TOUCH THOSE PROPS!" Then Mr. Carter voiced exactly what he was thinking; he nodded grimly. "I think they've all been cursed, Mr. Carter."

He took a deep breath. He was so overwhelmed by the situation that it he only just registered that Kalen had given the same instructions he had mere seconds before he had. He raised his wand to send a patronus to Hawthorne, but Kalen had already done that too. "Should we send for Hirsch as well?" He asked the other man.

Now there was nothing left to do but try to comfort the distraught students. He cautiously approached the sobbing Abey and put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Abey... look at me. It'll be okay... Professor Kennedy has sent for Headmistress Hawthorne, and Ronan is going for the healer. I promise we're going to get Junia and the others the help they need," he said, trying to reassure him.

Derf just baaaaaaaaarely recognized the Charms professor speaking to him in the midst of everything else that was going on around him. It really would be something else if they actually got this play to happen, you know? "I...um...perfectly fine," he assured the man as he came back out from under his hiding place as it was now abundantly clear that there was no earthquake and Zoryn was just being, well, Zoryn.

Little did the Hufflepuff know that climbing out from under that table would bring him nothing but heartbreak.

Everything seemed to happen in slow motion. He hadn't really noticed Sam scurrying around - although in the aftermath he would certainly recognize her - nor had he noticed the exchange between the older Ravenclaw and the others with the props...but what he DID notice was the scream of his best mate. The one he had SWORN he was going to keep safe and not let other bad things EVER happen to EVER again. Because wasn't nearly DYING in your first year from a terrifying monster that also almost killed and ate your family enough?

Apparently not.

Apparently Hogwarts had it out for the Botros family.

Heart drumming so loudly in his ears that all other sound was gone, the third year's bright blues dulled when he saw Junia laying lifeless on the floor and then practically all the light vanished from his eyes when he saw Abey. Then Professor Myers fell (which in hindsight he supposed nullified the whole Dark Lord theory) and then Juniper...and Derf felt his heart beat a little more pathetically with each thud of their limbs hitting the ground.

....but...ABEY.

Dropping all his things, Derf ran to his Gryffindor and instantly threw his arms around him and WHACKED the Charms professor's hand right off his best mate's shoulder because NO...NONE of this was OKAY and people needed to STOP sugarcoating everything and pretend like nothing was a big deal just because they were kids. Which was why Derf shot the man a warning look - a bit rabid one at that, like a mother dragon protecting one of her eggs - and then tried his best to gently guide Abey's face to hide in his shoulder while saying nothing. Just being a physical presence. Just holding Abey. Just being here for him...because he should have been there for Junia too. He should be better,
stronger. He should have learned how to keep his important people safe by now...

...and he had failed Juniper as well.

The helpless feeling was back...and suddenly he was that terrified 11-year-old who had soiled his trousers when he had seen the Monster in the corridor and heard the bloodcurdling screams of his two best friends being dragged away.

And so it was, that Derf began to cry as well and did so into Abey's shoulder. Briefly forgetting, for now, that Sam...Dora's Sam...was the culprit behind this.

But then it clicked as Sam's voice droned on about exposing inequality and ending the struggle...

...and then Derfael Mitchell Ashburry-Hawthorne snapped.

"SOME ONE MAKE HER STOP!" he pleaded, tears streaming down his face. Silencio....ANYTHING.

THIS IN AND OF ITSELF WAS INEQUALITY. CURSES WERE MAGIC. EVERYTHING UP UNTIL NOW HAD BEEN ABOUT MAGICAL USE AND SHUNNING IT.

"WHAT A LOAD OF HYPOCRITICAL DRAGON DUNG!"

"Expose the inequality. End the struggle. Expose the inequality. End the struggle. Expose the inequality..."

Despite the cold water on her face, and Derf's shouting, Sam didn't stop. She continued in her trance-like state, curls hanging damp and limp around her face, her black t-shirt now clinging to her skin. She didn't even pause to wipe away the drops of water hanging from her nose.

"Expose the inequality. End the struggle. Expose the inequality. End the struggle. Expose the inequality end the struggle. Expose..."

A patronus was being sent out, the Healer was being sent for and orders were being given to not touch anything....but she didn't stop. In everything that was happening, despite the mild splash in the hopes she'd stop....Sam kept going on...

It was...unnerving to say the least, the way she held her trance, not reacting to a single thing. The way her words rang with such hollow conviction...over and over. Derf's scream was right in line with her thoughts. SOMEONE needed to make her stop. The young girl was sufficiently spooked because it'd happened again. For whatever efforts the Professors may or may not have put in after seeing all the other signs.....it was still happening, only now it was escalating.

It reminded her of the conversation she'd had with her dormmate about this very thing happening and given the book that'd been stolen from the restricted section, Jessa wasn't too keen on seeing the final act.

"Cut it out!" This time, she did send a stinging hex at her housemate...several, just to be sure. At the moment, her nerves felt as if they were on edge. A foreboding feeling grew in the pit of her stomach that something much worse was coming and she'd have liked to stop it before it could get that far.

The instant the silvery monarch butterfly appeared in her office, Regina knew that it wasn't about to bring good news. By the time Kalen's voice came through, she was already standing, leaving the letters of concern scattered about on her desk, from her chair. And then she ran, faster than she ever had in a while.

Moments later, the headmistress loudly burst through the door of the theatre that the Room of Requirement was providing. Her eyes darted left and right, looking for Kalen, Gaston, and Paul. The screaming, sobbing, and static chanting filled her ears. Sam, the source of the chanting, was being dowsed with water AND being repeatedly stung by Jessa (Merlin's beard...), and it was then she caught sight of Junia, Jupiter, and Paul sprawled on the floor in silent pain. So much was going on that the woman for a split second had no idea where to begin -- the dramatics of this group had reached its peak.

After a deep breath to recollect herself, the woman spoke loudly and clearly. The seriousness in her voice did not welcome any back-talk or any sort of insubordination. "Everybody needs to sit down." -- she pointed at the red theatre seats -- "Do not touch anything and stay quiet. NOW."

She then climbed onto the stage and turned toward the to men in the room. "Gaston, I need you to keep an eye on Sam," she said, her face momentarily facing the emotionless Ravenclaw. "If this is anything like what happened to Kitty, then whatever is going on will pass and she's going to need someone to comfort her." Rather than be unjustly accused of something she had no recollection of doing or being zapped any further. "Kalen, keep the students from climbing up here or leaving. They need to be contained until we have the situation under control. And make sure Jessa puts her wand away before I make sure it gets taken from her."

With the nonnegotiable orders given, Regina got to work. She so desperately wanted to move Junia, Juniper, and Paul out of sight and ease the pain, but she had no idea what she was up against. One wrong move and things could easily get worse. Her gaze shifted from their bodies to the objects that were on the floor.

Carefully, she waved her wand so the brooch, staff, and necklace were levitating in mid-air. More complicated wand movements followed, putting her curse-breaking background and everything she knew to use. The objects slowly began to rotate as she gradually broke through the magical bonds, the details of the curse each object contained being revealed to her. Her eyes widened.

With another wave, the wrappings clung around the objects and they gracefully dropped to the floor of the stage. Then a silver alligator left the tip of her wand, heading for Roderik's office -- Junia, Juniper, and Paul have been badly cursed. I need your help easing their pain and taking them to the hospital wing. -- before turning her focus on the curse's victims and making more complex wand movements.

It had taken Abey seconds to reach Junia. He dropped to his knees at her side and stared at her, and his horror increased tenfold. She looked dead, she looked dead, she looked dead but she couldn't be dead no no NO.

Vaguely Abey registered a hand on his shoulder, and the voice of Professor Marchand, but he couldn't look away from Junia, even though the sight of her filled him with such a mixture of despair and panic that he was ceasing to function at all. If he looked away, she'd be gone forever and wouldn't be able to fixed and he'd never see her again. And it wasn't okay, nothing was okay, nothing was ever okay ever ever. This couldn't be happening, this couldn't...

Someone else was there, pulling him closer to them and trying to make it so he couldn't see Junia. At first he tried to resist it, he didn't want to not be able to see her, and he wanted people to help her but he also didn't want anyone to touch her either or hurt her or be anywhere near her. Exactly what had happened, Abey didn't know; he was so focused on Junia's predicament that it was like he had blinders on where everyone else was concerned. The brooch Junia had held earlier went unnoticed by him, the plight of Juniper, Professor Myers, and Sam Tyler too.

But then there was that familiar touch and familiar smell and familiar voice; Abey knew who the someone-else was, and he obligingly buried his face in Derf's shoulder. Everything was a rush of yelling and panic and chaos, it was all mixed up in his head and all he could be certain of was that something terrible had happened. He didn't know what to do, there was nothing he could do, nothing but cry into Derf's shoulder.

Until...

Another voice, familiar and stern and loud and impossible to ignore. Panic gripped his heart again at the thought that he'd be separated from Junia, and he quickly pulled away from Derf again and clumsily grasped for Junia's sleeve, holding tightly onto her arm. "M'no-t leav-i-ing h-her," he choked out between sobs, before reaching for Derf's arm with his other hand, anchoring himself to both of them.

Kalen had risen from his place next to Paul and moved to check on Juniper, he looked over at Gaston as he spoke and he nodded. “We Probably should send for Hirch. ” He said as he looked over at Derf and Abey, it seemed Gaston was trying to handle them, so he turned his attention back to Juniper, but before he could do much at all, Regina had come into the room and Kalen was instantly on his feet.

He nodded as she instructed him and he ushered all the remaining kids to the seat the Headmistress had indicated, “Everybody please stay seated and do not move until we are sure it’s safe. ” He said sternly, as he looked over at Jessa

“Please come sit down Miss Cambridge, and put your wand away. Hexes and charms will not help Sam right now.” He said as he held out a hand to indictate a seat for her.

He wasn’t quite sure what to do about the crying boys, and he was sure all help would be spurned, so he kept and eye on them as well as everyone else he was watching over.

Jessa was all set to sting Sam again when the sound of the door busting open drew all her attention. The Ravenclaw watched, wordless, as the Headmistress swept into the room and quickly made her way over to the stage area yelling orders and creating some semblance of coherency. Only thing was....they had to stay.

Holy kneazle this couldn't be happening. If this didn't get sorted out soon enough, her potion would be botched and who would she file a formal complaint with then? Professor Myers maybe, he'd been the one who organized the rehearsal for the day and hadn't been able to quell the earlier confusion. Ugh but as if anyone would care about her hard work. It would be passed off as another causality of the castle and she would be told to get over it. That was how everything was handled here, big and small.

Jessa rose with a fair bit of reluctance, moving around the woman to hop down from the stage and take a seat among the red chairs.

There was no protest on her part, what point would there have been in that? It didn't seem like any of this was negotiable and the Professors were already carrying out her orders to detain them all and ensure no one left. The Ravenclaw didn't wait for Mr. Kennedy's prompt. Hearing the Headmistress' words, she'd already gotten that her wand was meant to be back in it's holster but......"What if something happens? I'd rather have it out and ready...in case, Sir. I won't use it unless I need to." Wasn't like she'd continue hexing now that she'd been told not to but....just....would someone please make Sam shut up? Even if they couldn't snap her out of it, surely there was something else they could do.

Blue eyes trailed over to Abey....there was very little she supposed anyone would be able to do to remove him from his cousin's side and she'd be damned if she decided to give it a shot, especially with already being instructed to have a seat.

It was absolutely unbelievable. Stuck in here with the potential culprit like sitting ducks while the Professors tried to figure things out. The drama club was quickly becoming more trouble than it was worth. The 15 year old could've been safely locked away in her little makeshift lab by now, but no. Her hands gripped onto either armrest, her nails digging into the soft fabric. This was the only display to alert to a turbulent tide of agitation coursing below her surface. Other than that, her expression remained stoic. By now, the young girl was quite used to disasters and stressful situations, in the sense that she wasn't the type to overreact...or react at all outwardly--a form of shutting down if you will. Detaching herself from the situation. She would quietly assess the situation and so far, none of it was looking good.

Bloody brilliant.

"Expose the inequality. End the struggle. Expose the inequality. End the strug-"

The chanting stopped abruptly, and somewhere between stinging hexes, Sam's eyelids flickered open. And then she immediately screwed them shut again as the fog of the trance cleared to reveal the bright stage lights. Blinded, why was she being blinded? She'd been in her dorm, reading a book on sociology on her bed...thinking about mirroring her boyfriend soon...taking notes, her quill stroking softly against her chin...

Not she had the chance to dwell on those thoughts, as the last stinging hex hit her cheek, and Sam became acutely aware of the burning sensation spreading across her skin. "OW!" she cried out, her eyes flashing open and a hand reaching up to tentatively touch the swollen skin. Talk about sensory overload. She bent down to steady herself, and it was only now, crouched down, and head in her hands, that she realised she was wet too.

What in Merlin's Beard?

There might have been some cussing under her breath at that point. Sorry Headmistress.

She rubbed her damp face on her sleeve, wincing as she caught the welt across her cheek, before taking a look around her. There were seats, students...was she on some sort of stage? She shuddered involuntarily at the thought. A performer for an audience, Sam was not. There was a reason she hadn't auditioned for the play.

Was this a dream? It was an extremely vivid one if it was.

Finally she found her voice...though it was quiet and clearly shaken. She looked up around her, her eyes falling on the Professors nearby. "Wh-w-wh-where am I?"

*blink blink*

..................

It was exactly what he thought. But he still didn't say anything, as an argument wasn't what was needed right now. What they did need was a healer, but he didn't have his charmed notepad nor could he produce a corporeal Patronus yet. The sixth year wasn't snapping out of it, though, just continuing to chat those awful words 'Expose the inequality, end the struggle'.

Suddenly, Ronan felt a splash of water. Looking around, he saw that Jessa had tried an Aguamenti and had hit Sam and him both (well, he was right in her face). He didn't get mad, because he figured that she'd done it to get Sam to snap out of it. He just looked back to see if it had worked.

Then, things started happening way too fast again. Professor Kennedy had sent a patronus for Headmistress Hawthorne and told him to fetch Healer Reed (why hadn't he just sent two patronuses, one for each?). But before he could even get to the door, there was the Headmistress herself, giving orders in a way that actually sort of reminded him of his mum. That was actually kind of comforting to the Gryffindor who was starting to get a little emotional himself, as he'd caught sight of Abey and Derfeal clinging to each other.

Oh, so THAT'S why nothing was being done about the Cultist in their midst. She had the Headmistress convinced that she'd been cursed as well. Well, there went the mum comparison, because his mum would NEVER let herself be fooled by one of those people.

Ronan did follow the Headmistress' orders though, especially now that she'd sent her own patronus, presumably to the healer. After all, they were all witnesses and would need to be thoroughly interviewed.

And Sam was back with them now. Good.

It was a simple task for a simple day but marking was hardly ever as 'simple' as the man made it out to be. Currently, he was trying to wrap his head around the plight that one student went on about something that had very little to do with the Dark Arts itself. It wasn't until he noticed the familiar blue-white light of a patronus that he looked up at the corporeal form of an alligator as it spoke about....... a..........

.................

..........................

Swearing very loudly and very proficiently in German, the man swapped his quill for his wand and practically flew out of his office, leaving every thought about Inferi and marking behind. He ran flat out, taking the stairs three at a time and even pushing through some of the concealed entrances here and there. The running didn't stop until he skidded to a halt right outside the blank stretch of wall that marked the entrance to the Room of Requirement.

Three times he speed-walked before bursting through the door of the room, where a very odd sight met his eyes. The first thing he noticed were the groups of students, all part of the Drama Club and all sitting in the audience seating while Kalen and Gaston looked on nearby. Both of them received a nod from him but the sound of someone else talking, albeit quietly, caught his attention. There was the form of Sam Tyler, who was shaking and currently asking about her location. This was probably what made him furrow his brows the most but he didn't linger too much on it. Instead, he looked over at Regina and the victims and she was the person he talked to first.

"I got here as soon as I got your message, Regina," he said, trying not to sound as breathless as he felt while he adjusted his slightly lopsided glasses. He directed his feet towards her, the victims and the crying form of Abey and Mr Ashburry-Hawthorne, while giving the odd-looking wrappings a once-over. "You say that they were cursed?" he asked, his face paler than usual and a frown spreading itself across his face, "Do you know the extent of the curse? And," More importantly. "what happened?" It might help them understand the situation a bit better because right now, none of this made sense.

Gaston nodded, smiling slightly when Mr. Ashbury-Hawthorne said he was fine. He wasn't sure he believed it, but he wasn't going to pry. His smile quickly vanished when the curses happened, and his bright blue eyes darted helplessly around the room, taking in the chaos. He felt utterly useless! Unsure what else he could do, he tried to comfort poor Abey, but suddenly...

WHACK! He quickly withdrew his hand as Mr. Ashbury-Hawthorne struck it. Blink, blink. Did that really just happen? His hand stung for only a moment, but the sting it left on his heart was going to last longer. His lip wibbled for a split second, but then the shock in his eyes quickly turned to anger. His eyes flashed like blue bell flames as he returned the boy's look with an equally ferocious one of his own. That was absolutely uncalled for! He started to tell him off but decided against it. He had a feeling that anything he said now would fall on deaf ears, and he wanted to make it crystal clear that this behavior was unacceptable. He would wait and summon the boy to his office after they both had time to calm down.

Gaston turned away sadly. He was tired of watching these people take their frustrations out on each other! First Myrtle, then Paul, and now Derfael... He just wanted to leave this mess and be alone with his rising emotions, but that wasn't an option, at least not until Hawthorne got here. Maybe he could volunteer to owl St. Mungo's? He went to stand beside his wife, the only one in the room he trusted not to lash out at him at this point.

He nodded approvingly at Mr. Carter as he tried to snap Miss Tyler out of... whatever was happening with her, but then Miss Cambridge started sending spells at her. He was going to reprimand her, but Hawthorne was seeing to that. He acknowledged Kalen's answer to his earlier question with a look, but Hawthorne had already sent a patronus.

Wait, what? For the second time in mere moments, Gaston was in a state of disbelief as Hawthorne asked him to comfort Miss Tyler. The emotionless headmistress was now showing more kindness and compassion than two of the nicest people at Hogwarts had during this entire disaster of a rehearsal. If he didn't know better, he would think he'd dropped into a parallel universe where everything was backwards! But there was no time to dwell on his shock right now. He nodded in reply to Hawthorne's instructions and quickly turned his attention to Miss Tyler. Hirsch's nod of acknowledgment was also returned, though he was too distracted by everything else going on to fill him in on what happened.

"Sam?" he said, approaching her cautiously lest this should turn out like the last time he tried to comfort someone. She didn't strike him as the type to lash out, but he once thought the same thing about Paul and Mr. Ashbury-Hawthorne. At least she seemed to be coming around now.. That was a positive sign. Nut his eyes widened with concern when he saw how unsteady she looked. "You're in the Room of Requirement," he answered her question, bending down to her level. "Here, let's sit down... Do you think you can make it to one of the seats?"

The...Room of Requirement? Sam blinked, her brow furrowed in confusion as she tried to focus on Marchand. "...I-I-I was in my dorm. Reading..." She was sure of it. So how had she got here? Her gaze flickered around, as if trying to orientate herself.

All in all, it was failing. She was wet, had a burning swollen face, there were a ton of Professors in the what was apparently the Room of Requirement disguised as a theatre. And then her gaze lingered on her feet. Where were her shoes? She never walked around the castle without shoes or at least slippers on. She swallowed slowly, a knot forming in her stomach. Had she sleepwalked again? There was that night...a few weeks ago now, where she'd found herself on the moving staircases. But there's no way she could have made it into the Room of Requirement, with the ritual required, whilst sleep-walking, was there? It wasn't even evening when she'd started reading.

Taking a nervous breath, Sam nodded. "I think so, yeah." She reached out for his support as she slowly went to stand up, still a little disorientated. The swelling on her face probably wasn't helping. "D'ya think you could do somefink feh me face? Numb it, maybe?"

She paid no attention to the look on Gaston's face. Regina could already tell that he was dumb-founded and surprised by her orders -- yes, she had a heart. Especially when it mattered. Her thoughts did not linger on him though; they each had their own tasks to take care of at this moment in time.

Instead she had an emotional Abraham Botros Jr. to deal with, who was holding tightly onto Junia's sleeve as well as Derfael. The woman's blue eyes widened slightly. That was definitely not going to help the situation. If anything it might... "Mr. Botros, I know that you don't want to leave your cousin's side, but you need to do as I asked," the headmistress said calmly, though her eyes unwavering from the bodies and her wand still moving. "She's been cursed. She needs space, and we can't have any interferance if we are to make her better."

Kalen? A little help here with getting these boys to sit down?

Then Roderik was by her side, which was relieving to an extent. As much as she wanted to look over to him, she was still very much concentrating on making incinerate movements of her wand. "Yes, they've been cursed. They each touched one of the wrapped objects over there," Regina stated quietly, her arm moving in a large sweeping motion now over all three bodies.

There was a brief pause before she spoke again. "From what I've been able to decode, it is a gradually growing curse that makes them paralyzed and cold to the touch. But, internally, they feel a burning pain that grows more intense with every minute." She was now moving her wand over the girls, starting at the top of their heads, over their hearts, ending at their feet, and repeating the process again. "There is a chance we can stop it while the curse is in its early stages, but we need to act fast and get them immediate medical attention."

Kalen looked down at Jessa as she came to sit down, but she still had her wand out. He sighed softly at her words and focused his green eyes on her. “Please put it away like you were told.” He said as he lowered his voice, “Or at least keep it out of sight?” He said as he whispered down to her. Yeah it was probably smart it keep it at the ready, but perhaps a little bit inconspicuously, so she at least looked like she was obeying.

His eyes moved to focus on Sam, whom seemed to be coming around, and it looked like Gaston had that situation in hand so he turned his eyes back to the kids who were sitting down and his gaze alighted on Ronan..

A far marred his normally handsome face as he saw him sitting there and not gone to have gotten the healer like he said. “Mr. Carter, are you normally in the habit of disobeying professors?” He asked him as he kept his green eyes on the young Gryffindor. “I asked you to go get the healer, and seeing as you are still here and he is not, I’m assuming you did not do what I asked.” He turned towards him fully.

“Because you did not obey, these cursed people will now have to wait even longer to get medical attention.” He said clearly as he shot a Patronus out of his wand heading straight towards. Not only had he wanted the healer here, but if he could get a student out of the way, and way from the cursed objects and safe, he wanted to do that. He wasn’t stupid, he knew what he was doing.

He gave Hirch a nod as he came in and he looked over at Regina as she tried to deal with Abey and Derf, he sighed and headed over to the two boys. He did not make the mistake of trying to touch one of their shoulders, instead he knelt down by them.

“Abey, I know you are concerned about your cousin, and Derfael I know you are trying to comfort your friend. But the two of you need to come sit down. Right now you are only hindering what is happening, not helping.” Kalen said in a soft voice.

“As soon as it is safe, I’ll walk you two down to the hospital wing, but you need to back up for now. Okay? Can we be strong for Junia?” He asked him.

“The Headmistress, Professor Hirch and Healer Reed are the best at what they do, and they’ll do everything in their power to keep your cousin safe and get her well. ” He held out his hand. “Please come with me. ”

The entire room, everything around him, it all felt like chaos. The fact that things were calming down slightly with professors appearing and intervening didn't seem to register with Abey's brain at all; everything still felt chaotic and loud and frantic and his heart was still going like fury in his chest and he still kept crying and shaking in fear and panic and worry and not even trying to get himself under control because this was Junia.

Nothing else mattered, really. Not even the repeated order for everyone to take their seats, not the adults or the other students talking around him. Even when the headmistress spoke directly to him Abey still didn't turn from Junia or move away from her.

Stubbon and distraught, Abey fervently shook his head 'no'. Other than that, he didn't speak, didn't look, hardly moved. The only concession he made was to loosen his grip on Junia's sleeve and let go of her arm, the part about them needing to get to Junia with no interference sort of registering in his head. He wouldn't touch her, okay, there, that was space, it was space, it was space, it was space. But he wouldn't leave, he wouldn't LEAVE. If he left her, if he took his eyes off of her, then she'd DIE, he knew it, he was certain of it.

Next moment, Professor Kennedy's words reached Abey's ears and rage and panic and total despair hit him and the whole entire world collapsed in on him and his chest caved in under the weight of everything and any part of him that could still think straight seemed to shatter into a million pieces. Nobody could keep them safe here, nobody could do that, nobody had ever done that, he had nearly died here once and now Junia was going to actually die and everyone had let it happen and he was making it worse by not leaving her but she would actually definitely die if he left her and the world was ending and crashing down around his ears and everyone was pretending like it wasn't. Letting go of Derf, Abey made himself as small as he could there on the floor, and reached his hands up to his head, clutching his hair tightly and rocking gently back and forth in the attitude of a distressed house elf.

"I'm. N-not. Leaving. H-her. I'm-n-not-to-uching-her, I'mnothurtingher-p-p-pleasejustfixher!" With that, Abey stopped talking and just wept, but kept his fingers wound tightly in his hair and away from Junia, but his eyes still fixed on her. He wouldn't touch her, he'd stay away from her, but he was not going anywhere and he was not taking his eyes off of her, not if he could help it. They didn't know. They just didn't know.

It was not surprising to Derf that his outburst warranted no response from anyone (not even his written word went on acknowledged that he knew about) and, to be fair, Derf wouldn't have heard anything regardless since his full attention was on Abey and Junia by proxy. Someone could have told him they were gifting him a real dragon egg to go along with the fireseeds still under his bed and he wouldn't even bat an eyelash. Nothing else mattered but protecting Abey and his fragile heart right now. It was the least he could do since...he had failed in protecting Junia.

"And I'm not leaving you..." he whispered reassuringly to his best friend.

The arrival of Professor Hirsh wasn't even registered, nor was the forlorn look given to him by Professor Marchand. And honestly, Derf did not feel sorry about what had happened. Okay...maybe a little bit...but not in the moment.

And if ONE more person mentioned that Junia and the others had been cursed like he hadn't heard it the first dozen times that word had been thrown about the Hufflepuff was going to snap. He felt rabid and it truly was a wonder he was not foaming at the mouth now. Or maybe it was Abey's presence and his hand clinging to him that was keeping him from going into full on beast mode. Because he had to keep his wits about him SOMEWHAT.

But when he heard the Headmistress go on to describe what this curse was doing to ... the cauldron of bubbling emotions reached its complete boiling point and tears were overflowing from his eyes. They were burning ALIVE from the INSIDE. THIS WAS A BLOOD MAGIC CURSE AND NO ONE HAD TAKEN HIM SERIOUSLY THE START OF TERM IN THE LIBRARY AND NO ONE HAD BEEN ALL THAT CONCERNED THAT A DARK MAGIC BOOK HAD BEEN STOLEN FROM THE LIBRARY.

AND NOW THAT VERY SAME LIBRARIAN HAD THE AUDACITY TO TELL HIM AND ABEY THAT THEY WERE HINDERING THINGS?

So it was with complete hatred that he looked at the man's outstretched hand and he nearly swatted it away like he had the Charms Professor's, but then he felt Abey's hand slip from his own and his blue eyes widened because WHAT IF ABEY WAS FAINTING FROM ALL THIS? Because Derf had read all about those in relation to what Abey was going through.
It was a vicious cycle...fainting spells caused panic attacks and those, of course, made the feeling of fainting worse and panic attacks more frequent...especially in such triggering situations like this...and Derf felt utterly hopeless and his own panic seized his chest seeing Abey ball ip like that. So in the next moment his arms were around his Gryffindor, trying desperately to hold him together with whatever strength his shaking limbs had all the while whispering that he had him - technically both of them sitting down. Technically.

If nothing else...Derf had you, Abraham Botros Jr.

One moment they were getting back to the play rehearsal and the next ... well, honestly, Skylar wasn't exactly sure what happened next. She'd been rehearsing the cues and lines in her head, trying to get it right this time... about to collapse from 'exhaustion', and to say her line of Don't, don't touch me. When the next, Sam had been passing out props? To Junia? But Junia was only a gatherer? And Juniper got one too? And Myers?

Really, the fifth year was just all kinds of confused - probably just as much as Junia appeared and then ...! No! There was panic and collapsed students and a collapsed Herbology professor. All writhing and Skylar could do nothing but stand there, stricken. The show couldn't go on; not with Myers cursed too. Also, the reciting that Sam said, wasn't that the writing on the wall months back? With Kitty? End the struggle? Expose the inequality? She was supposed to be good at this logic stuff, but with all that the fifteen year old she-snake had going on, from her extracurriculars to classes to owl studies to boys to play rehearsals... none of this was making sense.

The only thing she knew was that someone had tried to curse her roommate. And while she might not have been as close to Junia as she was to Vivian, she still cared about Junia Botros. The girl was STILL a friend and a roommate, always; or at least for the next two and a half years. They had to look out for one another. She hadn't been looking out two years when Junia was sucked into the portal and she hadn't been looking out now when Junia was blindly cursed by some brooch. Wait, brooch? Had it not been discussed briefly in Divination class with that weird prophecy that her head of house made, Skylar might not have thought about it, but hadn't a brooch been important to Ilvermorny? It fastened on all the Ilvermorny student robes... Wait. No. Professor Vance did have the inner eye, but ...

She was smart, yes, but this ... this was more than just brains and logic. Someone was infiltrating Hogwarts and using the students. The Williams twins that Vance mentioned; it HAD to be. And right about then was a good time for Skylar to feel super duper nauseous; enough so that she just wretched the entirety of her lunch right there on the stage.

But hey, at least she wasn't cursed? Also, Abey's weeping at Junia's side brought her back to the reality of the situation and the fifth year instinctively went over to him and gently placed a hand on his shoulder just as Derf had wrapped his arms around the Gryffindor, whispering gently "It'll be okay... she'll be okay..." She dueled Junia before; she knew Junia was tough. Even if she didn't know for a fact, she was determined to not let Abey see that part. Just as long as he didn't notice she had wretched her insides out moments ago. She had to be strong - for Abey's sake. Of course the words of the Headmistress about what she decoded from the curse hadn't truly registered with the Slytherin's brain, but she again, positivity here. They needed that.

Hirsch tried to tune out whatever was going on with the students in the seating area but it was hard not to pick up on various pieces of conversation. Kalen talking about needing River was somewhat noted, Sam asking for help was also noted, Gaston, and then Kalen, trying to calm Abey down was probably noted the most. But right now, he concentrated on Regina’s words about the curse.

The furrowed brow expression deepened as he started to pull up his sleeves. It was probably lucky that he has his wand in his hand already -constant vigilance? - because it didn’t take long for him to start making the same intricate wand movements that Regina was making. His lips moved ever so slightly every now and then and his wand lingered over the hearts and brains of the cursed. Together, with the two spells combined, it might, with some luck, do something that one spell would take longer to do.

After all, time was of the essence here.

"Kalen sent for River, he should be on his way," he said, in between his mental chant of the counter-curse, "The other students might need to be escorted to their dorms. Maybe let Abey stay where he is, he has a right to know what’s going on." As much as he tried to concentrate on the spell itself, the Defence Professor couldn’t help but also pick up on the sound of the distraught third year. The rocking, the weeping, the tugging on his own hair...... it was enough to tug on anyone’s heartstrings. A part of him wanted to go and comfort the boy but this didn’t seem like the best course of action right now. Not when he had the task of fixing the victims, as Abey put it, at hand.

With that thought in mind, Hirsch continued to move his wand over the heads of the victims, down to their feet and repeating the process all over again, all the while mentally chanting a rather complex counter-curse. The furrowed look stayed there, as he put every ounce of his energy and determination into working the spell itself.

The fact that she didn't have to tell him what to do, once again, is what made Regina approve of Roderik so much. She was glad to not be alone in trying to fix the chaos. It certainly would make breaking through the curse and easing the pain that was silently sprawled on Junia, Jumiper, and Paul's faces easier.

Soon their wand movements matched up. If anyone had come in to see the sight, it could have been argued that they were doing some type of synchronized wand show. She continued to wave her wand, reciting the mental chant, pushing away her wish of having her rune stones on her person, and try her best to block out the sobbing. She could and did fully empathise with them, and seeing the state of Abey was going to bring her to tears later. However, Regina wasn't one to bark orders simply because she was in charge. Lives were at stake.

Why wasn't Kalen pulling these kids away? He had one job...

It was at this point the headmistress quickly flicked her wand toward anyone who was still within five feet of her. The effects of the spell would blow a gust of wind against them, begging (perhaps even forcing) them away from their current spot on the stage. A brief apologetic look was casted their way; they had been told. With another wave, she encased herself, Roderik, the fallen three, and the cursed objects in an impenetrable bubble that cancelled out any exterior sound.

Silence.

Her focus, now that she could fully concentrate, went back to the complex counter-curse and waving her wand over the victims. Right now she was praying for their mouths to close, eyes to blink, and bodies to not be so stiff. Anything that showed their efforts were working.

For a second, Gaston's gaze drifted to Abey and Derfael, both just as hysterical as ever. It seemed Kalen was having about as much luck comforting the boy's as he had. Obviously nobody was getting anywhere with Abey as long as his attack dog friend was around! Then he saw Skylar approach and shot her a warning look - not an angry warning, but a concerned one. "Skylar, don't try to touch-" he began, but it was too late. He waited to see what would happen. He could let having his own hand swatted slide for now, but if he even tried doing that to Skylar... Never mind, he would deal with that later.

Right now Sam needed his attention most. He offered her his arm to hold on to for support as he gently guided her to the nearest seat. Blink, blink. His eyes widened in shock and concern when she told him she'd been in her room reading. So she'd clearly been cursed... just like Kitty, he thought grimly. But there would be time to riddle out what she did or didn't remember and how this happened later on. First things first, he needed to make her as comfortable as possible; then they could talk about things.

He was just going to offer to fix her face when she asked him if he could do something; he nodded. "Of course," he said, raising his wand to try to counteract the stinging jinx. "I can also dry you, if you'll let me." Once he was done with the spell(s), he asked, "Are you more comfortable now? Is there anything you need?" Welk, besides answers, ovbiously. That would come momentarily, as soon as he figured out how to approach the subject.

He eyed her with concern and a slight tinge of pride. He always knew Sam was strong, but he was amazed at the level of maturity she was showing right now. "Sam, I just want you to know I'm so proud of the way you've handled this situation," he said, giving her a very small sad smile. "I can't imagine how scary and confusing it must be for you to mysteriously wind up here. Most people would've panicked or lashed out at me by now, but you're being so brave and... thank you for that."

Holy hell! Even when he actually was obeying, he was getting in trouble for not obeying! Or had he misunderstood the Headmistress when she had told them all to sit down? Had she added the words 'unless your name is Ronan Carter, then as you were'? No? Then he was obeying. Besides, he had thought that the patronus she'd sent had been headed for Healer Reed, not Professor Hirsch as it was now proven to be.

None of this said out loud though. Instead, blue eyes stared daggers right back at the librarian turned professor before pulling his knees up to his chest and putting his chin on them, sadly watching everything that was going on.

For those watching closely, it would be a relief to see that though she was still unresponsive, Junia's body was relaxing some. The tension was subsiding and her limbs seemed less rigid now, her mouth which had been stretched wide in a silent scream, now closed. It seemed the spells were helping.

Out of sight? Yeah, she could do that. It was the more practical option in what could possibly be a dangerous situation. Jessa nodded gratefully at the man who was no doubt defying the orders of his boss, thinking he'd just earned a whole lot of brownie points with her.

Jessa placed the wand in her lap, pulling her feet up and watching the scene unfold before her. Whatever had done it--her hex or the spell simply wearing off--the Ravenclaw was glad to see her housemate had finally snapped out of whatever she'd been in only moments before. It was one less unsettling thing to internally overthink and raise her anxiety over.

There was the faintest quirk of her brows when the Headmistress blasted back those closest but from here, she couldn't really see anything and if she was being honest, she was more preoccupied with the words of her Head of House.

Because.

What????? Escorted back to their dorms? Oh, come on. What started out as a possibility of being unable to get back to her potion in time was quickly turning into a definite and Jessa wasn't liking it one bit.

"Professor Hirsch, would you escort me somewhere else first?" She piped up, acutely aware that it wasn't the time, but oh so unwilling to have an entire cauldron worth of rejuvenation potion botched.